Alciato's Book of Emblems

Emblem 196

The reputation of a woman, not her beauty, ought to be proclaimed

In the form of a dialogue

Bountiful Venus, what pray is this likeness? What is the significance of that tortoise on which, goddess, you set your gentle foot?

Phidias formed me thus, and he commanded that my sculpture represent the female sex; and because it is appropriate for women to remain at home and be silent, he placed such a symbol beneath my feet.